Who is Velma Dinkley?
by Lupus Malum
Summary: After a trap goes wrong, Velma finds herself in a hospital bed with amnesia. Struggling with her identity, Velma retires from mystery solving. But the gang can't solve them without her. Will a haunted house contain the key to unlocking Velma's memory, or will she be left wondering; 'Who is Velma Dinkley'.
1. Chapter 1

Who is Velma Dinkley?

 _Running. You're running. That's all you can remember. Running. But there's something else. Horror. Something's chasing you. You're not meant to be chased, it wasn't meant to be you. It wasn't meant to be you, but you can't remember why. It's dark and your last memory is running. Running and a man's voice. "Don't come this way! You'll trigger the trap!" Then something catches around your foot and someone screams. Darkness and a pain in your head when you realize the screamer is you. But who are you?_

The room is white. That's the first thing you notice. The second thing is the machinery. You are hooked up to several different hospital machines. You can't tell what machines they are because you can barely see. Your vision is all blurry, like you're wearing someone else's glasses… Or maybe you're not wearing your own. The machines are just grey blots against the brilliant white. The only reason you can even tell what they are is the uncomfortable feeling in your arm. You try to speak, but it feels like your tongue has shriveled in your mouth. You can't move. Just as your begin to close your eyes, something moves opposite your bed. A door that you hadn't seen opens and a blurry figure comes in. They say something, but your ears don't seem to work either. They say something else and walk out of the room again. Slowly your eyes start to close. Darkness falls and sleep claims you for its own once again.

 _You are sitting in a bright place. You see people you almost recognize, but you can't pin names to faces. There is laughter and talking, you can smell food. Someone is talking to you but you can't make out a word they're saying. The room starts to spin around you. The person keeps talking, repeating a single phrase over and over. The room spins faster and you can finally make out the phrase. "Who are you?" "Who_ are _you?"  
Somehow this makes you anxious and you start to panic "I don't know!" you shout. The room stops spinning. Everything stops. The lights, the people, the noise. Darkness. The voice of the other person speaks again, except it's your voice. It was always your voice. "Who are you?" it whispers. _


	2. Chapter 2

You wake up again. There is a doctor sitting at the end of your bed taking notes. You still can't see, but your hearing has come back. Licking your lips you try to speak. A moan comes out of your mouth instead of words. You try again, straining your vocal muscles. This time a word comes out. "Water." The doctor sits up and gets a glass of water from beside you and holds it to your lips. It tastes sweet against your tongue, restoring your power of speech a bit more. Maybe the doctor was expecting a question from you, but not the one you ask. "Who am I?" spill the words from your dry mouth. The doctor's face is a blur, but you can tell that it was the wrong thing to say. They mutter something like "I'll be right back," but your hearing is going again. You slip backwards, through the bed and back into the darkness.

You dream of nothing, which is a relief. When you wake up, there are more doctors around your bed. "Miss Dinkley?" asks one, and you look around before realizing that he's talking to you. In the corner of your room you can make out two more shapes, more doctors, but these ones are talking about you and not to you. "It's a miracle!" says one, and though they are trying to speak quietly you can hear them like they are right next to you. "Yes, but Joan said that the patient has amnesia," replies the other. Amnesia. What is amnesia? Suddenly the fact pops into your head, like it was always there. "I've lost my memory?" you croak, more to yourself, but the doctors think you're talking to them. "We may have to ask you a few questions, Miss Dinkley," says the main doctor. The two doctors in the corner walk over. The main doctor moves and you can hear the ruffling of papers. "Okay Miss Dinkley. What is your home address?" You search your memory. Nothing. Only the meaning of amnesia and the memory of running. The doctors mutter to each other when you don't answer. The main doctor reels off another list of questions. Simple things, ordinary things. You can't answer a single question. You are close to tears, but you can't cry. The doctors get up to leave. As the main doctor heads to the door, you ask one question. "Who am I?" The man turns back towards you. "Velma," he says. "Velma Dinkley."

 _You are in a library, but this is a dream not a memory. There is a pile of books in front of you, but the pages are all blank. You shiver as you notice the covers of the books. Personality. Memory. Other things like that. You open the book called memory. On the first page there is one word, 'running'. The rest of the book is blank. You look around the library for a librarian, but you are the only person there. As dreams go, you are standing on top of a ladder and reaching for a book. The cover says 'Velma Dinkley'. You pull out the book and open it. Nothing. Blank pages. Suddenly the pages of the book start to whirl, you lose balance, toppling off the ladder. You can't move, trapped beneath the ladder. The book rests open on your stomach, open in the middle of the book. There is a sentence scrawled in blood red. 'Who is Velma Dinkley?'. You read the sentence. As it passes through your head, the bookshelves start to tumble. "Who is Velma Dinkley?" you ask, as the dream dissolves around you._


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the days pass in a blur. Doctors come and ask pointless questions. They remove the drip from your arm and give you a pair of glasses, which are apparently yours. Eventually you are moved from the white room. To a different ward with other people. You don't know whether the other people have amnesia as well and you don't ask them. The days seem like a blur. You have no visitors, not even parents. Do you have parents? You can't remember. The doctors come. The doctors go. Everything is the same. Until today. You wake up and something feels different. For a moment you think you can remember everything, but then you realize you can't. However, on the bedside table is a card. You reach for it slowly, thinking it's another dream. You open the card. Instead of: 'Who is Velma Dinkley', like you expected, there is a different message. "Dear Velma. Get well soon. The Gang." Who are 'The Gang'? You put the card back, frustrated. Another question instead of an answer. You sit, awake and alert all day. You do not want to go to sleep. You do not want the dreams. But you cannot fend off sleep for long. It grabs you and pulls you in, before you can even take off your glasses.

 _You're in a van, in the back seat. There is a man and a woman in the front seat and a man and a dog in the back, all about the same age as you. You recognize everyone, but you still don't have names. "Are you alright Velma?" asks the woman, turning to face you. She is startlingly pretty, with shiny orange hair and green eyes. "Like yeah, Velma," says the man in the back, sticking his head over the seat. "You look kinda pale. Like a ghost. Isn't that right?" he laughs nervously turning to the dog. "Rike reah!" replies the dog, sticking its head next to you. You hear yourself talk, "It's okay guys, I'm just kinda travel sick." The other man turns to look at you. "Don't worry Vee, we'll be back in Crystal Cover real soon."  
_ _"_ _Like, yeah, I'm so hungry I could eat a Scooby snack!" says the man behind you, but you're not listening. "Are you the gang?" you ask, and this time your voice is under your control. The people ignore you, like they can't hear you. They just keep going on with the conversation. You tap the woman on the shoulder. She slowly turns her head. "Are you the gang?" you ask again, as the woman turns to face you. "Yes." Her voice is like the closing of a coffin lid and her eyes are blank. She grins, her teeth suddenly pointy. Her voice goes girlish again. "How could you forget your_ friends _Velma?" she teases, as a pain builds in your head and the dream starts to dissolve._

You open your eyes to find the woman from your dream sitting on the edge of your bed. You shriek and push yourself up against the pillows. "Jeepers Velma!" exclaims the woman. "It's only me!" She smiles, but that smile fades a little when you don't return it. When she realizes that 'only me' could be anyone. "You know," she says, softer now. "Daphne." There is a doctor in the room with you. She looks warningly at Daphne, as if she wasn't supposed to tell you her name. "Daphne…" you say. In your mind, you connect the name with her face, but nothing comes back to you. "Yes," she continues, ignoring the steely-eyed glare from the doctor. "Can you remember me?" You shake your head, and any trace of hope vanishes from her face. She sighs. "Can you remember _anything_ about me?" she asks, grabbing your hand. The doctor in the corner draws out a clipboard, expectantly. "I remember your face, two other people and a talking dog." The doctor jots down these new developments, as Daphne claps her hands. "Oh! So you remember Scooby?" she asks, her bright expression returning. "Scooby?" you ask.

The dog walks up to your bed. "Reroh Relma!" it barks, grinning absurdly. Something in your mind tells you that this is not normal dog behavior, but it feels familiar. Then the two other people came in. "This," says Daphne, gesturing to the blond man, "Is Fred. That's Shaggy." Fred and Shaggy wave awkwardly. "Is this… 'Scooby'?" you ask, using Daphne's words. The dog nods and pads back over to Shaggy. The doctor steps forwards. "We thought that bringing your friends in would… _trigger_ your memory. But apparently…" she breaks off, too afraid to voice the fact that you still know nothing. Shaggy and Fred grab chairs and draw them up to the side of your bed. "So Velma," starts Shaggy. "Can you like, remember anything?" You patiently reel off the mystery dream, but inside you feel like screaming. Your eyelids start to droop and the doctor hurriedly rushes them out of the room, just as you fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_You're back in the library and the pile of books is set in front of you. One is open; its title reads 'Acquaintances'. The first page is blank, but the adjacent page has six names written on it. Daphne, Velma, Fred, Shaggy, Scooby Doo and Mystery Incorporated. You rub your fingers over the last word. What could it mean? The 'memories' book falls open, but the pages are obscured by cobwebs. You blow, but only one section comes away. As the thin strands of web float away, it reveals the 'running' page. But printed beneath it is a short entry. 'In Mystery Machine, travel sickness.' As you ponder this, the bookshelves start to topple. You brace yourself, as the dream dissolves into reality._

You wake and ponder this new dream. The once blank pages of your memory are covered over with cobwebs, perhaps signifying that you are closer to uncovering them. As you meditate on this new clarity, another question surfaces in your mind. You have no idea how long you have been in the hospital, but already your friends have come to visit. You've been taken to a new ward and you are nearly off your medication. So why haven't your parents visited yet? You debate in your head whether to ask the nurse if you have parents or not, but decide that the nurse wouldn't know. Instead you wait till the doctors come to check on you. The doctor who comes this time is a young woman. She carries a folder under her arm and wears glasses on a chain around her neck. You wait patiently as she goes through the regular procedures and then you throw the question at her. "Do I have parents?" The woman pauses, her nervousness evident. She searches carefully for the right words to say. "You did, but… there was… there was an accident…" the doctor trails off, anxious at your reaction. But for you it's impossible to feel a sense of loss for people you don't even know. You watch her as she leaves the room, shaking. A voice inside you tells you that you should be the one shaking. But you cannot picture your parents and as you start to fall asleep, the sense of loss finally kicks in.

It is a few more days before you are released from the hospital. Your parent's house, as well as the museum that comes with it, belongs to you. You are to live there with a trained nurse, until you regain your bearings. The house is warm and comfortable; the décor makes you feel safe. In your room you unearth next to nothing. The old you didn't keep a diary, or photographs. The only trace of the girl you used to be is in the rows and rows of books on the shelves. Fiction and non-fiction, leather bound and tatty paper-backs. There is one common trend though, mysteries. Crime fiction, crime genuine, paranormal mysteries, anything. Mystery Incorporated. The words from your dream. You pull open your old laptop, racking your mind for the password. Velma Dinkley seemed like the smart sort of person who would keep a spare password written somewhere, but hidden. You skim your fingers over the book covers until you find a newish one with 'Computers for Dummies' written on the cover. You open the book and a slip of paper with a list of passwords falls out. Velma Dinkley wasn't dumb. But you're her, or you were her and perhaps she's still inside you. You try all the passwords on the laptop. When you're in, you open up a search browser and look up 'Mystery Incorporated'.


	5. Chapter 5

There is a mixture of results. Some newspaper clippings from the city archives. Wikipedia pages. One thing catches your eye. Halfway down the page, is the name of a website. 'Mystery Incorporated/Velma's blog'. Your heart races, this could be the key to your memory. Hands shaking, you click on the link. Your laptop lags, as the webpage loads. You select the first entry, impatiently waiting for the text to load. _Data corrupted_. You roar and throw the laptop across the room. You curl up on the bed, as footsteps rush towards your room. The nurse bursts in. Her eyes dart from you, on the bed, to the shattered laptop in the corner. She tuts under her breath and walks out again, shaking her head. Once she is gone, you walk over to the phone. Quickly you dial in Daphne's number.

"Oh, we solve mysteries!" exclaimed Daphne. "It's kind of _why_ we were called Mystery Incorporated. Jeepers Velma, you can't even remember _that_?" You shrug as a way of reply. You are sitting in a coffee shop near the windows. You can see out into the street, as people walk past. "Anyway," continues Daphne, stirring the liquid in her mug. "We solve kind of, you know, _spooky_ mysteries!" she waves her hands around to illustrate her point. "Spooky?" you ask, leaning forwards a little. "Yes!" continues Daphne. "Spooky! As in ghosts, that sort of stuff. Well, the rest of the gang was wondering whether you, well want to join again. Ever since you were… Well without you we just can't solve the mysteries." She clasps her hands together, propping up her chin, and looks at you balefully. You shrug. "Sure," you hear yourself saying. You get up and walk out of the shop, leaving Daphne to pay for the drinks.

You get a call from her later. "Vee! We're in luck! My mom's friend has just bought this castle, but it I haunted! She wants _us_ to investigate!" As she babbles on in your ear, something moves out of the corner of your eye and you suddenly feel cold. "Yeah, yeah sure," you say, hanging up the phone. Your ears ache, like someone has screamed in them, but you can't hear anything. Something clatters in the kitchen, startling you. You grab the nearest weapon you can find and slowly creep towards the room. You peer past the doorway, into the kitchen. A solidified, shadowy mass is in the center of the room, rummaging through your kitchen drawer. Part of your mind is terrified, but the other half is not. This half of your mind belongs to Velma Dinkley. This half of your mind says that ghosts are non-existent. You trust the Velma half of your mind. Wielding your impromptu weapon you run at the mass, roaring. Suddenly it turns. You stop, frozen mid yell, the weapon drops from your hand and clatters on the floor. There is no face, but it feels like its staring at you. Then it rushes past you, through you, chilling you to the bone. You crumple, doubled over, realizing for the first time that your weapon was a hairbrush.


	6. Chapter 6

_You open your eyes. You are in the kitchen standing in a corner. Suddenly you notice something come in. A dark mass stalks into the middle of the room and starts rummaging in your kitchen drawers. You try to scream but no sound comes out. Then you run into the room. You watch yourself sprint towards the shadow, waving a hairbrush like a madwoman. You want to call out, to tell yourself to stop, but your lips have sealed themselves together. You watch yourself crumple as the thing turns towards you. Then you see something that you didn't see before. The thing takes something from the drawer then rushes through you and out of the door. You see yourself curl into a ball on the floor and suddenly you can move again. You walk over to your crumpled body. You look at yourself and suddenly you receive images from two perspectives. You looking down on yourself and looking up at someone who isn't you. "Are you Velma Dinkley?" you ask, looking down at yourself. Velma nods and sits up. "Who are you?" she asks, brushing off her skirt. "I'm you," you reply, but the dream starts to dissolve. Velma starts to open her mouth. "The key," she shouts, "Find the key!" The walls of the kitchen implode and you are left floating in blackness._

You wake up gasping, clutching the bed sheets around you. The key? What is the key? You dwell on this mystery, absentmindedly rubbing the back of your head. The clock chimes, waking you out of your stupor. Carefully, you stick your feet into the slippers which rest at the side of your bed. As you pass the Nurse's room, you pause, listening for her breathing. Satisfied that she is asleep, you continue down the stairs to the kitchen. You walk towards the drawer which the shadow had been rummaging through. It's an ordinary draw, full of forks and knives, but you notice something. At the back, underneath a measuring cup, is a piece of ribbon. You pull at the ribbon, and the bottom of the drawer comes away, revealing a hidden compartment. The compartment is empty, except from a key-shaped indent. You curse under your breath, realizing that the shadow had got the key and that it wasn't just a dream. But then you notice something in the back corner. A small folded piece of paper. You pick the paper up and start to unfold it. You hear footsteps on the stairs; suddenly the nurse appears in the doorway. You bundle the paper into your pocket. "You need your sleep if you want to regain your memory!" exclaims the nurse, hands on hips. You allow yourself to be led back to your room.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, you pretend to sleep in. You hear your door open, as the nurse looks in to check on you. Then you hear footsteps on the stairs and the front door closing. You sneak over to the window and watch the nurse drive away, towards the grocery store. You sit back on the bed and retrieve the paper from the pockets of your pajama bottoms. You unfold it. The paper is lined and covered with cursive writing. The calligraphy looks familiar and with a jolt you realize it's your own. You sink back against your pillow and start to read.

 _To who_ m _ever reads this:  
This key is _a _n important c_ l _ue in a long forgotten mystery. S_ o _clue finder, if you take this key, you a_ r _e on the precipice of an unanswered quest_ i _on, which is sur_ e _to lead to many other unanswered questions. Bewar_ e _._

You scrunch up the paper and throw it into the corner. Then, having second thoughts you pick it up again and smooth it out. Velma Dinkley was not dumb. Velma Dinkley was ridiculously smart. You scan the note again, looking for irregularities in the text. Suddenly you spot something, one unjointed letter. Then another. And another. You grab a pencil from the desk and quickly highlight the letters in red.

 _To who_ m _ever reads this:  
This key is _a _n important c_ l _ue in a long forgotten mystery. S_ o _clue finder, if you take this key, you a_ r _e on the precipice of an unanswered quest_ i _on, which is sur_ e _to lead to many other unanswered questions. Bewar_ e _._

"Malorie?" you ask out loud, tapping the pencil against your teeth. You go to hide the paper in the bottom of your desk, but change your mind and slip it into the lining of your pillow. Then you leave the room to go for a shower. The hot water washes everything from your mind and for a moment you aren't Velma Dinkley. You aren't 'that girl with amnesia'. You are just you and you feel serene. That serenity only lasts for a moment after you get out of the shower. You find the nurse standing in your doorway with her mouth open. You push past her to see what she's looking at. The room is a mess. The drawers of your desk are hanging out, bits of paper scattered about the room. Someone has untucked the sheets on your bed and thrown the pillows on the floor. Shelves have been torn down, books have been thrown everywhere and even the curtains have been dismembered.


	8. Chapter 8

The nurse starts to shake. "I- I just came in to check on you…" she stutters, the bag of food she's holding drops to the floor. You take her by the shoulders and lead her downstairs. You give her a mug of coffee and sit down opposite her at the kitchen table. "What happened?" you ask, as she takes a drink from the mug. "I just came to check on you… Someone broke _in_!" she exclaims, thumping the mug down onto the table. You can't get anything else out of her. "Someone broke in…" she keeps repeating, staring into the coffee dregs like they hold the secret of the universe. You go back upstairs to the room and set about trying to clear it up. Just as you are re-making the bed, something strikes you. Pick up the pillow and shake it, pulling it out of its case. The piece of paper spirals downwards, coming to a rest on the carpet. You pick it up thankfully, letting the pillow slide to the floor. Your relief turns to horror as you unfold it. The piece of paper is blank. You know that the original Velma Dinkley wouldn't have been so stupid as to write the clue on the note. The real Velma Dinkley would've destroyed the original note, made a copy and then hidden that copy somewhere clever. A voice inside your head tells you that you _are_ the real Velma Dinkley, but you certainly don't feel like her.

You finish tidying your room and phone up Daphne again. "Daphne…" you start, after waiting for her to stop talking. "Daphne, about the haunted house thing…" you say. "I'm in." You hold the phone away from your ear as Daphne squeals down the receiver. "Oh that is brilliant!" she gushes. "Malorie will be _so_ pleased!" You stop suddenly. "Malorie?" you ask, "Spelt with an 'ie'?"  
"Oh! So you already _know_ her!" trills Daphne, unaware of the change in your tone. Then she starts babbling about yachts and holiday cruises and chance encounters. "Okay Daphne!" you interrupt. "When is this thing?"  
"Tomorrow!" she replies. Your mouth drops open. "Daphne!" you yell. "You could've said that before today!"  
"I am _soooo_ sorry!" she replies. "But I thought that you were out…"  
"That's ok," you reassure, dodging the rest of her apology. "Will you pick me up?"  
"Sure!" replies Daphne, apology instantly forgotten. "10.00 sharp!" Then she hangs up. You groan and put the receiver back on the hook. It could just be a coincidence that Daphne's mother has a friend called Malorie. But the Velma inside of you tells you that the only way to solve the mystery is to, well, solve a mystery. Slowly you climb the stairs and go to pack your bags.

The nurse isn't in, so you call her to check whether you can go or not. You can't hear her at first, because there is a lot of noise in the background. When you finally do get an audible answer, it is definatly not the one you are expecting. "Of course!" shouts the nurse, as the noise picks up in the background. "Maybe it will help with your amnesia!" The line goes dead leaving you puzzled. You had been sure that the nurse would object to you leaving at such short notice. Something doesn't add up in your mind, so you carefully walk back up the stairs. It's just when you finish packing your bags when you notice it. In the corner of your room, in the waste basket, there is a folded piece of paper that wasn't there before. You go to pick it up, but then stop and reprimand yourself. Who notices stupid things like that? But something in your mind says that Velma Dinkley noticed things like that and that more often than not, they weren't stupid at all.


	9. Chapter 9

The piece of paper turns out to be a postcard. A faint fragrance wafts across your nostrils as you pick it up. You read the message. It is short but simple.

 _Dear Jane  
The job is complicated but pays well. People keep giving me the cold shoulder. It's like the job is haunted! Mal is well and misses you. Hopefully the job will be over soon. I'm too busy to be hunting for treasure. Ah well, if life gives you lemons…  
All the best, Clem._

You study the postcard. Jane. Probably the name of the nurse. Nothing suspicious at all… But yet… You turn the postcard over, blank. The only decoration being small scorch marks. You flip it back over again and scrutinize the message carefully. Then something flashes in your mind. The name of the nurse isn't Jane, it's Elaine. So who is the postcard for then? Unless… The reference to a job, unnamed. Treasure hunting. Mal. Malorie! Mal is short for Malorie! Quickly you grab your pen and underline passages of the postcard. Then you look at it again.

 _Dear Jane  
_ _The job is complicated but pays well_ _. People keep giving me the cold shoulder._ _It's like the job is haunted!_ _Mal_ _is well and misses you. Hopefully_ _the job will be over soon_ _. I'm too busy to be_ _hunting for treasure_ _. Ah well,_ _if life gives you lemons_ _…_ _  
All the best, Clem._

You glare at the postcard thoughtfully. Malorie's haunted house. The treasure, an unsolved mystery, or maybe the unsolved mystery is missing treasure. Your fingers twitch, about to reach for your laptop, when you realize that you still haven't replaced it. The job, maybe someone is being employed to find the 'treasure'. The nurse? No. She would be clever enough not to leave the clues lying around. So why was it in your waste basket? But 'the job will be over soon'. Maybe 'Clem' has enough evidence to go ahead and find the treasure. So that would mean that 'Jane' would be at the haunted house. You shake your head, as you begin to feel too suspicious. It's probably nothing. But your mind lingers over the last underlined phrase. 'If life gives you lemons…' The other half of the phrase re-surfaces in your head. Make lemonade. But something feels wrong. Make lemonade? Unless… You look at the blank front of the card, with the slight scorch marks on the front. The faint waft of something citrusy, yet slightly _burnt._ You run to the kitchen and jam the card into the toaster. After a moment you press the cancel button and the card pops out. The previously blank postcard now sports a message. The address of Malorie's house and tomorrow's date. You feel a great bubbling feeling inside you. You actually got something right! A clue written in lemon juice. It feels like a little bit of Velma Dinkley has re-instated itself in your empty mind. Jinkies, you think. Wait till the gang see this.


	10. Chapter 10

_You are floating in the darkness. "So," you ask the dream, you ask yourself, "What will it be this time?" You don't expect an answer, so the silence comes as no surprise. As you float there in the darkness, you start merge with it. You feel invisible against the absence of light, part of the walls. Then suddenly you are looking at yourself. It feels like you are on a thin leash, allowing you to travel, but keeping you chained to your body. Without thinking, you start to run. You don't know where you are running to, but you find yourself back at the scene in the kitchen, with the shadow. The scene replays before your eyes, but just as you run into the kitchen you notice something that you hadn't seen before. "Stop!" you shout and, much to your surprise, the scene pauses. Carefully you edge past yourself, frozen mid roar and you walk into the kitchen. Coming from the shadowy figure is a shaft of light. No, coming from the shaft of light is the shadowy figure. You memorize the position the light emits from and slowly think yourself back to your physical body. As you float in the darkness, a thought starts to emerge from the depths of your mind. I've done this before._

You wake up at four in the morning. The curtains still haven't been replaced, so ragged shadows flit across your walls. You groan and pull the duvet back over your head. Then the dream comes back to you. You carefully slide past the nurse's room and down the stairs. The kitchen is dark and quiet. You carefully carry a chair over to the spot below where you saw the shaft of light. Carefully, you step onto the seat of the chair and reach up into the corner where the light was coming from. Your fingers brush against something glassy. A projector. It is mounted into the wall, possibly wired into the house. Why would there be a projector wired in the house? Unless… What if Velma predicted the amnesia? What if Velma set up a series of safe guards, just in case she lost her memory, in case _you_ lost your memory? You carefully step off the chair and walk to the kitchen drawer. After lifting up the false bottom, you stick your finger into the key-shaped indent. There is a whir and the projector flickers into action. The shadowy figure flickers in the doorway then it runs towards the drawer, which is still open, and starts to rummage through it. You watch the holographic fingers pass through the bottom. Then it turns, stares into space and then runs out of the room. You push the false bottom into place and it closes with a crash. You wince, as you hear a creak from the nurse's room. You hurriedly close the drawer and push the chair back into place. Then you pad quickly back up the stairs and into your room.

Lying in bed, you think over the developments. The motion triggered holograph. You think back to the day of the incident. The crash from the kitchen, the sudden freeze. Then something hits you. _Someone else must've been in the room._ You think it through. The cold air must've come from an open window, so the thief must've come in to take the key. They rummage through the drawers while you're on the phone and find the false bottom. They take the key, but the holograph appears. They see it and freak out, slamming the false bottom back into place. This alerts you, so the person jumps out of the open window. You come in, find the drawer open, and see the holograph. Of course you know what happens next. So there must've been somebody else in the house when the key was stolen. You think regretfully of the broken laptop. If you'd looked up Velma's search history… You mentally correct yourself. _Your_ search history, not Velma's. You are Velma. With that thought, you fall back into a deep sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

You are woken by your alarm clock. Carefully you get dressed and, as a last thought, you tuck the broken laptop into your suitcase. There is a horn sound from outside and you look out of the window. Parked outside is a blue and green van with 'Mystery Machine' emblazoned in orange across the side. Daphne leans out of the van window and waves up at you. You wave back and hastily run down the stairs, dragging your suitcase behind you. Bizarrely, the nurse is gone, so you lock up behind yourself. Daphne waves frantically at you, even though you can see where the van is. "Velma!" she exclaims. "You can get in; just chuck your stuff in the back!" You open the door and slide into the back seat. "Like, hi Velma!" says a voice from behind you. You whip around, only to find Shaggy. "Reroh!" says a voice from behind him and Scooby slings his head over the back seat. You greet them and carefully tuck your suitcase beside you. There is a ripping sound as Shaggy opens a cardboard packet. Then there is a crunching sound, as Scooby Doo dives towards him. You drum your fingers impatiently on the seat, as Fred starts the car.

By the time you get to the house, Shaggy and Scooby have eaten three boxes of snack food, four massive burgers and, on one memorable occasion, fallen out of the van. Daphne jumps out and opens the door for you, waiting patiently as you get your bags out. The house takes your breathy away. It is tall and gaunt, shutters boarding up shattered windows. There are mismatched boards nailed on patches of wall, blocking possible damage. "Wow…" you hear Fred say. "This really is a haunted house." There is a crash as Shaggy tumbles out of the van. "Like, not so fast Scoob!" he exclaims, brushing dirt off his clothes. "There'll be plenty of food for all of us!" The brown dog bounds out of the van, towards the house. Then he stops short. He sticks his tail between his legs and mimes sneezing. "Scooby!" chastises Daphne. Words slip out of your mouth without you realizing that they are even yours. "What a ham actor!" you exclaim. Everybody stares at you. "Velma, you used to like, say that all the time!" explains Shaggy, when your confusion doesn't clear. "Oh…" you say. The syllables fall flatly in the air as the awkwardness kicks in. "Come on gang!" exclaims Fred, smiling forcedly. "I guess we should go check out this house!" he offers his arm to Daphne, who takes it. Scooby runs in after them and Shaggy follows.


	12. Chapter 12

The hallway is lit by a huge chandelier, which illuminates a grand staircase. At the top of the staircase stands a woman. She is wearing a white, floor-length dress with long sleeves. A hat with a large brim obscures her face. The light from the chandelier flickers across her, giving her a ghost like quality. At first you think she is a ghost, but then you catch a flash of purple under her hat and realize that she must be Malorie. The woman glides down the staircase towards you. Her purple hair is elegantly coiffed and wound into a bun beneath her hat. "Daphne, dahhhling," she drawls, stretching out each syllable. She reaches Daphne and air kisses her on each cheek. "It has been simply ages since I last saw you!" She turns to survey the rest of the gang, elegantly swishing her skirts as she does so. "These must be your friends!" Her lip curls distastefully when she sees Shaggy and Scooby, but she says nothing. "Come, come, come!" she continues, grabbing Daphne by the arm. "Let me show you your rooms!"

After giving Daphne the keys, Malorie clasps her hands together. "Thank you all so much," she trills, backing towards the door. "I hope you can solve my little… problem." Before anyone can say anything, she leaves. The silence is awkward, but interrupted by Fred, who sticks his head around one of the doors leading off from the hallway. "Hey guys! Look! This room has a fireplace!" You follow him into the room. It is large and as dusty as the rest of the house, but mounted in the wall is a large fireplace. Surrounding the fireplace are some large sofas. You sink down on one of them, struggling to get comfortable on the lumpy upholstery. "So gang!" announces Fred, dropping on to the other sofa. "Any clues so far?"  
"Fred we like only just got here!" complains Shaggy, as he slumps down next to you. "Actually guys…" you start, reaching into your pocket, "I have a couple of clues!"

"So… you found these already?" asks Daphne, after the postcard has been passed around. You nod. "And that's not the strangest thing. It's like I knew that I was going to lose my memory. There was a holographic projector set up, almost as if to lure me to the key…" The gang stare at you silently. "What I'm trying to say," you press, "is that maybe I talked to one of you guys about something before…" Fred stares thoughtfully into the fire. "There was this one mystery you were particularly interested in…" he starts. "Something about this house actually!"  
"Yes," chips in Daphne. "You said to tell Malorie that we were willing to solve her ghost problems! That's why I suggested the house as our first mystery!" But by now you've stopped listening. "Guys," you interrupt. "Tonight someone is going to come to the house to search for something. They already have the key and possibly other clues. We have to stop them." There is a snorting sound and you look over to the spot next to you, where Shaggy and Scooby have fallen asleep. "We know Velma," replies Daphne. "Every night this 'ghost' appears and circles about the house. That's why Malorie called us in." You shake your head. "No. This time I think they know what they're looking for. On the postcard…" Daphne's voice echoes in your head. _Every night this 'ghost' appears and circles about the house. Every night._ "Wait… if the 'ghost' already knew that the house was Malorie's," you start, "Then why did they steal the clue which translated into Malorie? That clue wasn't just for me…" Before Daphne and Fred can say anything, you stand up. "I'm going to sleep on it." You walk out of the room, leaving them stranded in front of the fireplace.


	13. Chapter 13

It's as you're walking upstairs that the intended message of the clue hits you. "Malorie doesn't refer to the _house_ itself, it actually refers to the location _inside_ the house!" you exclaim, slapping your fist into the palm of your other hand. Opposite the door to your room is the door to the library, so you quickly divert to the other room. The library is big and dark, but there is a torch near the door. The books stand majestically, lining the shelves. You walk over to the nearest bookshelf, the torch gripped firmly in your hand. The beam of light scans over the dusty spines of the recumbent books. You walk slowly along, stopping when you reach one book which is out of place. Nestled between two books about ghost stories is a book about the history of the house. Carefully you slide it out of the shelf, noticing as you do that, while the other books are dusty, the spine is spotlessly clean. You take the book over to one of the broad oak tables which line the library and place it carefully down. You prop up the torch so that you have suitable light and then you open the book at random. Then, you start to read.

You run your finger underneath the text as you read, frowning as the words dance in front of you. You take your glasses off and clean them on your jumper. You sit back, head reeling, flooded with new information. "Hmm…" you mutter to yourself, pushing your glasses back onto your nose. You place the book back onto the shelf and walk out into the hallway. Then you see the portrait. A little girl sits on a chair, surrounded by stuffed animals. Behind her is a door. You walk towards the portrait, cupping the torch in your hand to direct the beam of light. Something seems off about the door and you can't tell what. Slowly you reach out your hand and touch the painting. It is oil, on canvas. Your fingers trail along the textured surface, until you reach the painted door. Your fingertips brush the painted keyhole. But it's not painted. "No way…" you mutter, prodding the tiny keyhole. The keyhole which could be unlocked by a tiny key. A tiny key the size of the key-shaped indent in your kitchen drawer. "Guys!" you shout, running down the staircase. You hurtle into the sitting room. Spread out on the floor is a blueprint. Fred is on his knees, annotating the diagram shown on the paper. "Oh hey Velma!" says Fred, looking up from his work. "I'm nearly done with designing this trap, all we need to know now is where we need it set!" You open your mouth to say something, when Daphne comes in with a pile of coiled rope, followed by Shaggy and Scooby, who are cradling armfuls of food. "Hi Velma!" she exclaims, dropping the rope next to Fred. "Where have you been?"

As everyone sits down, you tap your fingers impatiently. When Scooby has finally settled down, you start to speak. "I know where we should place the trap and I know why." Everybody stops fidgeting and they all look at you. "Malorie's father, he disappeared when she was about six. He left a fortune to her, but it disappeared with him. The history books say that he supposedly hid it in the house before he disappeared, but not many people believe that. They believe that he spent all the money. There are some enthusiasts who spent ages tracking down all the clues he left…"  
"He left _clues_?" interrupts Daphne, breaking through the flow of your story.  
"Yes," you continue irritably. "So these people keep trying to follow the clues, but they always lead to a dead end. I think before the… accident… that I had found something out. Hence all the clues I left myself. But here is the really clever thing. I know exactly where the money is and maybe even where Malorie's father is." You pause, for dramatic effect. "At the top of the stairs is a painting of Malorie when she was a child. There is a keyhole in that painting. What I'm guessing is that Malorie's father left all the clues, because he suspected that he was going to be murdered or abducted. He must've taken the treasure to the space behind the panting and maybe even gone in to check it was all there. If the painting swung closed by accident and triggered the lock, he would've already hidden the key, so he wouldn't've been able to get out."  
"Why would the door lock by itself?" asks Fred, looking up from his trap. "Because…" you continue, impatiently. "Because he had to hide the key first, so he didn't have it on him if he was caught. The lock must've been set to activate when the door closed. This is all theoretical of course, but perfectly plausible." You stop and inhale a great lungful of air, as you wait for the information to sink in. Then there is a round of applause. You look up to find everybody clapping. "That's like, one groovy explanation Velma!" exclaims Shaggy, as Scooby Doo wags his tail in conformation.


	14. Chapter 14

"So… do you know who did it?" asks Daphne, as you help her and Fred assemble the trap. You rub your chin thoughtfully. "What do you mean by who did it?" you ask, rearranging the rope in your arms. "Well," starts Daphne, "I mean who murdered Malorie's father and was the accident really an accident?" She looks left and right, as if the culprit could be listening. "No one murdered Malorie's father," you reply. "We don't even know if he's in there. But if he is, it was probably just an accident. Otherwise the thief would've taken the treasure. As for people who are going after the treasure," you say, skirting around the topic of the accident. "As for people who are going after the treasure, it could be anyone. It could be the nurse, it could be me, it could even be Malorie herself."  
"Rope!" shouts Fred, looking down from the rickety step ladder that he is standing on. He extends a hand and you pass him the frayed end of the rope. "Well gang," announces Fred, after climbing back down the ladder. My trap is finished. It's a simple net, which we shall drop over the 'ghost's' head!" He spreads his arms out, like he is expecting applause, but you and Daphne just stare at him, silently. "Well," he continues, after a moment. "Let's catch our ghost!"

You regroup with Shaggy and Scooby in the sitting room. "So here's our plan," announces Fred, once everyone is paying attention. "Shaggy and Scooby will distract the ghost, somehow, and make sure it comes directly under my trap, though hopefully that won't be necessary, as the ghost will probably just go to the painting. Velma, that's when you drop the rope, understand?" You nod and stand up. "Well, let's get into positions then guys…" says Fred and you all slowly traipse out of the room. As your fingers grasp the rugged material of the rope, you a window open somewhere near the library. With a start you remember the book in the library. Or rather, you don't remember. Did you put it back? What if the ghost goes into the library and sees the book, what if the book isn't on the shelf… You thrust the rope into Daphne's hands and sprint off towards the library, ignoring the shouts of the others.

The library is undisturbed, and you breathe a sigh of relief once you notice the book is back on the shelves. Carefully, you back out of the library, listening for the ghost. Someone breathes on the back of your neck and you whip around, the torch from the library drops from your hand. The torch rolls across the floor and lands at a pair of glowing feet. Before you stands a young woman. Her dress is tattered and stained, the hemline brushing down to her bare feet. The material is shapeless and battered, eliminating any sign of an era, or period in which it was worn. Her face is pale and framed by lank ropes of dark hair. Your eyes flicker down to her neck, which is marred by a bright, red wield. Then you move to her face. The mark on her neck had distracted you, but when you see her face a small scream slips from your mouth. Her teeth are bared in a rictus grin. A grin that stretches all the way up to her eyes. As you back away slowly, you realize the best thing to do is to lead whoever is dressed as the ghost to Fred's trap. You turn and start to run, leading the 'ghost' back towards the staircase.

You stumble as you run, glancing back to check that the ghost is still behind you. The ghost girl appears to be floating, but you pass it off as the lack of oxygen to your brain. As you turn down the corridor that will lead you to the main staircase, something sticks in your mind. Why would the culprit dress up as the ghost of a hanged girl? As you puzzle this, time seems to slow down around you. Surely they would dress as the ghost of Malorie's father, or even just the simple sheet-ghost type thing. If Malorie had seen _this_ appartation, she would've called for help much earlier, or would've just run screaming from the house. Unless this _was_ Malorie. You remember Malorie. A tall and elegant figure gliding down the stairs. The thing chasing you is spindly and short. Then something surfaces in your mind. Something that comes from before the accident. Suddenly, time stops altogether.

 _You are sitting in a library, with a pile of books. No. You are sitting in_ the _library. The library from your dreams. Except this library is real. The book you are reading is titled 'Unsolved Mysteries'. You are reading about an old manor house, where the lady of the house supposedly hanged herself. The room she was found in was locked from the inside, but when they broke in, the chair she had 'jumped' from was tucked neatly against the wall. "Creepy…" you shiver, smoothing out the pages. "I know right!" says a voice from behind you. You jump, before realizing that it's just the assistant librarian. She looks a little older than you, with her honey blonde hair streaked with red. "And that isn't even the_ weirdest _thing about that house!" she whispers, leaning forward conspiratorially. "If you like unsolved mysteries, you're gonna love this one!" She plonks a heavy book down on the table in front of you, disturbing the passive silence of the library. "Enjoy!" she announces, pushing it towards you, then she leaves. You open the book to the first page. Hidden treasure?_

Time starts to move again. Before anything, before the treasure, there was the librarian girl and the woman who hanged herself. Just as you realize this, you skid into the main staircase area, near the portrait. "Guys! I have the ghost and I know who…" you start, but you break off when you see what the gangs are doing. They are standing around the net, which has captured a struggling figure. In the net you can just make out the face of the nurse. "B-but…" you start, trying desperately to slow down, as your momentum carries you towards the stairs. "Then who is…" you feel icy cold fingers push into the small of your back, propelling you towards the edge. You feel something catch around your ankle. The rope from the net is draped along the top of the stairs. You trip, twisting around as you begin your descent. The woman is smiling her rictus grin, but now it stretches past her eyes, almost to her temples. You scream and scream and scream.

 _Running. You're running. That's all you can remember. Running. But there's something else. Horror. Something's chasing you. You're not meant to be chased, it wasn't meant to be you. It wasn't meant to be you, but you can't remember why. It's dark and your last memory is running. Running and a woman's voice. "No Velma!" Then something catches around your foot and someone screams. Darkness and a pain in your head when you realize the screamer is you. You are falling and falling and falling. Into nothingness. The void. The end._


	15. Chapter 15

The nurses check in on the girl in the bed every day. They check her breathing and vital signs. Then they leave. They close the door behind them as they leave. There are different nurses every day; in fact the girl's only constant visitor is the cleaner. The cleaner thinks of this as he slowly pulls his trolley past her room. He doesn't bother going in. The room is pristine, is always pristine. At the beginning, her friends came to visit, but now they don't. What's the point in interacting with someone when they can't interact back? So he continues on his way, humming a song to keep away the nagging feeling of fear that he gets when he passes her. Meanwhile, the girl's body sleeps on, a sleeping princess against the starched, white sheets. Thousands of miles away her mind drifts, lost in a loop of what has passed and what is to come. The cleaner turns the corridor, leaving the silence undisturbed. The night turns to day and back to night. The nurses come by and leave. The girl's friends walk towards the hospital and back again. In a distant house a dead woman walks the staircase. In a jail cell an angry woman stares at the ceiling. And Velma Dinkley sleeps on.


End file.
